1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for effecting the installation or replacement of a cementing float shoe, normally run into a well on the bottom of the well casing, without requiring the removal of the well casing from the well.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is a common procedure in the completion of subterranean wells to effect the cementing of the bottom portions of the well casing in the well bore. Such cementing operations are normally conducted, at least insofar as a first cementing stage is concerned, by passing cement axially through a cementing float shoe which is carried into the well on the bottom of the casing and incorporates a conventional float valve to accommodate a required upward passage of well fluids during the insertion of the casing. It occasionally happens that after insertion of the casing, it is found that the well bore is not completed to the proper depth. Obviously, the withdrawal of the entire casing string, particularly when welded joints have been employed, is a time consuming and expensive procedure. Heretofore, the problem of casing removal had only been partially solved by drilling out the cementing float shoe valve apparatus, then inserting an expanding type drill to complete the well bore to the desired depth. This procedure however, meant that the cementing operation had to be conducted without the benefit of an inplace cement float valve at the bottom of the well casing.